Striking bag apparatus



June 30,1936.

M. A. TOMPKINS STRIKING BAG APPARATUS Filed Jan. 25, 1953 Patented June 30, 1%36 I v STREKING BAG APPARATUS Marvin A. Tompkins, Akron, Ohio Application January 23, 1933, Serial No. 653,024

4 Claims. (Cl. 272-47) This invention relates to exercising and it has mouthed tubes adapted for inflation of the bladder for its object to provide an inexpensive, durable through either one thereof, it is preferred to and lively structure or apparatus of this class inhave only one of them, such as the lower one l2, eluding an inflatable rubber bladder flexibly susof this nature, and to make the upper neck I! 5 pended or anchored by upper and lower cord conwith a'closed outer end. These necks require no 5 nections. extra rubber or other reinforcement, although The ordinary striking bag apparatus including their walls will remain of normal thickness for an internal, inflatable rubber bladder contained most of their length when the body walls are in a cover of sewed leather is expensive and hard extended and thinned by inflation.

on the flsts, difficult to mount, inconvenient to i3 is an upper anchoring cord attached by its 10 inflate and requires an exceedingly strong conlower end to the neck H and provided at its upnection between the bag and its attaching cord, per end with a knotted loop M for receiving the rod or equivalent anchoring device or devices. 7 stern of a nail, thumb-tack or thellike l5 driven Prior attempts to employ a plain rubber bladder into a fixed support It, such as the upper frame have, so far as I am aware, been unsuccessful, due of a doorway. This cord is preferably inextensi- 15 to various causes such as a relatively expensive ble for the whole or the greater part of its length bladder construction and imperfect forms f n,- and should be of stout construction to avoid nection between the latter and the anchoring debreakage under the blows to which the bladder vi es. Th objections ar over m by my inis subjected. Any strong twine of twisted fibers vention, which affords new and unexpected results may be used, 20

in the way of combined simplicity, cheapness and The connection with the bladder is made by durabilityv It is found that an Ordinary y tying the lower end of the cord about the neck balloon made by the usual dipping and vulcaniz- I I, and the simplest and best tie is a noose or sliping process d aving only the t ck ess a d knot ii, the loop of which is preferably double,

structure of a depesited rubber film in e body as made by tying the end portion in a loop with 25 and in the terminal necks thereof to which the a fixed knot at E8 and then making the noose pp a lower cords are tied, po s th by looping'the bight upon itself. This makes a necessary strength to Withstand the b OWS 0 self-tightening connection with a cord material Whic t is subjected y reason of t g twhich will not cut the bladder, and the tenacious ness and resiliency, p ov d s a qu e et frictional hold of the fibrous cord upon the rubber 30 after being struck than the bags and connections ids in preventing slippage,

heret fo e p y in apparatus of this class, It is a lower anchoring cord, of elastic conand a so tha s p tied joints between t b struction throughout the whole or the greater and cords Wi l Withst n e rough usagepart of its length, connecting the lower bladder Of the accompanying d 1 s a front neck l2 with a suitable weight 20 supported on 35 l va on, partly in p p v w n a strikthe floor 2!. This weight may be a book, as ing b apparatus Constructed in accordance W illustrated, or any other handy object. The cord my invention. is could be a single elastic rubber strand or F 2 s an enlarged detail View showing the narrow tape, but is more conveniently made by preferred form of connection between the bladder interlooping with ach other the ends of ordi- 40 and the upper anchoring 00rd. nary stationers bands w in double slipknots 22 Fig. 3 is a similar View of the connection at the 50 that the length of th connection may be lower varied by using a greater or less number of bands 4 is a Side elevation illustrating the T613" according to their individual lengths, the height five position of the parts at the end of Swing of the bladder above the floor and the initial ten- 45 In the drawing in is an inflatable i sion desired in the lower connection. These endrubber bladder i i i e less individual bands I9 also permit the formamanner an ordmaty 0y oon y e lppmg tion of secure end fastenings to the bladder neck process, with a sufficient number of dips to pro- '2 and the weight 2" Thus the connection vide walls of the necessary strength which can k 2 b E 3 m de be inflated with the users lungs. Wlth nee 3 as es seen m 1 a a Said bladder is formed at opposite ends with by looPmg t blght the uppermost w upon itself in a two-stranded noose or slipknot integral, elastic, collapsible rubber necks or projections ll, 12, at least one of which is an inflat- 23 and mekme a -t t mns tie th with ing tube. While they might both be openaround the neck l2. The connection with the 55 weight 20 may be made by simply stretching the lowermost band I9 around said weight.

Before making the connection between the bladder l0 and the lower anchoring cord I9 the bladder is inflated to desired size and pressure therein by a tire pump or other inflation means, the neck I2 is then twisted to attain a temporary seal for the bladder and either the upper end of the anchoring cord or a separate binding, preferably also of endless elastic stationers band or bands is then wrapped or wound under tension and preferably of several turns around the neck I2, as seen at 26 in Fig. 4, to maintain a permanent seal for the bladder as well as a fastening means for the cord I9 to the bladder.

In using this apparatus, after mounting it in a doorway substantially as indicated in Fig. 1, or otherwise, the inflated rubber bag, balloon or bladder l0, when struck, swings as a pendulum on the inextensible upper suspending cord 13 and the lower elastic cord l9 stretches until the momentum is arrested and then rapidly returns the bladder. I

The use of an inextensible upper connection, in combination with an elastic lower one, by restricting the amplitude of swing of the bag under a given blow as compared with the effect when both connections are elastic, provides a qiuicker return, aflording better exercise and requiring more skill on the part of the user in order to hit the bag on the return. The liveliness of the return is further augmented by the resiliency of the bag itself in its upper neck H and to a less extent in its lower neck l2 in response to a blow. The relative positions and distortion of the parts at the end of a swing are approximately represented in Fig. 4:. The strain at the connections, and especially at the upper one, is of course very severe, but the yielding of the necks is graduated, there are no hard portions in either of the connections to produce tearing of the balloon walls or abrasion of the fists, and the apparatus proves surprisingly durable under the severest use. It may also be made to sell original- 1y or to be renewed in whole or in part at a price far lower than prior apparatus of the same class, and Will give just as good or better results.

It will be understood that the form of embodiment may be more or less changed without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Striking bag apparatus including an inflatable bladder formed with integral upper and lower elastic, collapsible, cord receiving necks, one of said necks being a bladder inflation neck, upper and lower anchoring cords each having one end thereof tied directly around over the outside of the corresponding neck, and the tying of said cord over said inflation neck promoting the sealing of said bladder.

2. Striking bag apparatus including an inflatable bladder, elastic, collapsible upper and lower necks formed of and with material of said bladder and being free of reinforcements and stiflening means, one of said necks forming an inflation neck for said bladder, upper and lower anchoring cords tied about the respective one of said necks, and one of said cords sealing said bladder after inflation thereof when the corresponding cord is tied to said inflation neck.

3. Striking bag apparatus including an inflatable rubber bladder, an elastic, collapsible inflation tube formed on and with material of said bladder and being free of inner reinforcement, an elastic, collapsible, outwardly closed neck formed of and with material of said bladder and being oppositesaid inflation tube and. being free of reinforcement, an anchoring cord having an elastic rubber band thereon tied around said inflation tube for sealing and for partly supporting said bladder, and an anchoring cord having an end thereof tied around said outwardly closed neck for further support of said bladder.

4. Striking bag apparatus including an inflatable bladder, a sealable inflation tube on the lower end of said bladder, a bladder suspension cord easily and conveniently releasably attached to the upper end of said bladder, and a resiliently extensible bladder anchoring cord easily releasably attached to said inflation tube and adapted to seal said bladder when attached to said inflationtube.

MARVIN A. TOMPKINS. 

